


Fracture

by Andwecanmessaround



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Angst, Broken Bones, F/F, Past Abuse, a little humour as well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 22:29:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4117102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Andwecanmessaround/pseuds/Andwecanmessaround
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Having just left a nasty relationship a year before this story begins, Pearl has sworn off relationships and is focusing on her duties as deputy head. Then she meets the new physics teacher. </p><p>The new, hot, physics teacher.  </p><p>Their first date doesn't exactly go how Pearl had planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fracture

The bell rang and thirty teenage students simultaneously let out a sigh of relief as their teacher nodded to indicate they were dismissed. Wincing as they loudly shoved their stationary back into their bags, scraped their stools across the floor, and began chattering, Pearl felt a large amount of relief herself when the last pupil was gone, leaving only blissful silence. The relaxation was short lived however. The children may have been finished for the day, but there was still a lot of work to be done before she and the other teachers could go home. Wiping the maths formulas off the board and setting up the opening exercises for her first class tomorrow, she checked the clock to see how long she had before the weekly Tuesday staff meeting – less than fifteen minutes. She’d have to mark the algebra homework sheets afterwards, which no doubt meant she’d be here for another two hours, and yet another late evening drive home from work in the dark. It was only early December, but already Pearl couldn’t wait for the winter to be over. There was something utterly miserable about arriving at work before the sun was up, and not getting home until after it had set.

She straightened up a few things around the classroom, before pulling the grey blazer jacket of her suit back on, feeling a little chilly in only a thin white blouse now that the heating had switched off, and heading out the door, instantly colliding with someone else. 

“I’m so sorry!” Pearl said, gesturing with her hands as she spoke, panicking. 

“It’s fine,” the other woman spoke with a low British accent. Pearl hadn’t seen her around before - she _definitely_ would’ve remembered if she had – the statuesque stranger was about half a foot taller than Pearl, with high, sculpted cheekbones that belonged on a model, and long box braids pulled back in a ponytail. The most noticeable attributes about the woman though were her eyes. One was a flat, uniform blue, the other a deep brown that absorbed the fluorescent light from the bulbs on the ceiling to shimmer slightly. _Heterochromia Iridum_ , Pearl’s brain helpfully supplied, and then as she noticed the ‘visitor’ badge on the stranger’s chest, it clicked. 

“You’re one of the candidates for the physics role.” She gasped “I’m so sorry,again. Can I help you with anything?”

“Er, yeah actually, I’m a bit lost. I’m supposed to be going to the staff room I think? I was with the Principal but she had an emergency so she left. She gave me instructions and I thought I’d listened correctly but they took me here. Must’ve taken a wrong turn somewhere.” 

Pearl smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. 

“That’s where I’m headed!” She winced at how eager that sentence came out and attempted to fake an air of nonchalance, “ You can come with me if you’d like.”

“If it’s not too much trouble, yeah. I’m Garnet.”

“Pearl Kyeong. Call me Pearl. What do you think of the school then?”

The two started walking down the corridor and there was a brief pause as Garnet considered her answer. 

“It’s interesting, in my previous job the school had more of a focus on sports, so it’s good that this school has a larger budget for lab equipment,” Garnet trailed off. 

“But?” Pearl pushed, “don’t worry I won’t tell anyone, this isn’t a test.” The two locked eyes and Garnet scanned her face before apparently deciding to trust her. 

“I don’t know if I feel ready for the responsibilities of teaching at a school this high in the league tables, especially when it’s a school that’s only just started achieving this well. It’s intimidating, the thought of ruining the progress made so far, and you’re advertising openings for head of Sciences, a chemistry and a PE teacher this year too on top of the physics opening. Your headteacher and deputy head, who I admittedly haven’t met yet, only came here three years ago and the school was struggling a lot before their arrival. It just seems like there’s a high turnover rate at this school and a lot of dependence on only a few members of senior staff, if they left then there would be a lot of problems.”

Pearl nodded. 

“I know how you feel, but you’ll be fine. Principal Quartz seemed very impressed with the lesson you prepared for her to observe, and she’s extremely devoted to this school. You’ve clearly done some research, but don’t worry, this is an unusual year with regards to staff turnover. Two of our teachers are retiring, one is taking an extended leave for a pregnancy, and the other was made redundant for…personal reasons.” Pearl’s lips trembled slightly but if Garnet noticed anything she didn’t mention it, and as they entered the staff room the headteacher intercepted them both. 

“Miss Adeniyi, I see you’ve met Ms Kyeong already! How wonderful!” Rose said with a wide smile. Rose Quartz was the kind of woman who’s smiles were so genuine that they filled the air with warmth, and one couldn’t help but smile back. 

“She’s been very hospitable.”

“Pearl came with me from my last school three years ago, I could never have turned this place around without her. Did she tell you that she’s the deputy head?”

“No,” Garnet said, raising an eyebrow, and Pearl felt her face heat up in embarrassment, excusing herself to talk with the heads of departments, who were sat next to the window debating the merits of sciences vs the arts as usual. 

____________

As she was sitting at her desk marking papers on a Friday evening later that week, she heard a knock and looked up to see Rose standing in the doorway. 

“Mrs Quartz?” Pearl greeted, continuing to do her work as she spoke. 

“I’ve told you a million times Pearl, we’re friends! You don’t need to be so formal when the pupils aren’t around, you can call me Rose.” The headteacher chuckled. “I just thought you might like to know I’ve selected Miss Adeniyi as our new physics teacher.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear.” Pearl said, not looking up from her work. 

“I thought you’d be happier about this. You two really seemed to click, she seemed so impressed with you!” 

Pearl felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, and another emotion, much less familiar to her. _Anger._

“You sent her to my classroom on purpose.” She stated in a flat tone, slamming her pen down onto the desk. 

Pearl had known Rose for ten years, ever since the older woman had hired Pearl fresh out from university, and she knew instantly from the flash of guilt across Rose’s face that she’d guessed correctly. She’d suspected ever since Tuesday, but it hurt to have her suspicions confirmed. She knew Rose _meant_ well, but the last thing she needed right now was a matchmaker.

“I’m not just hiring her for you, she was the best candidate. But honestly, I just want you to feel safe here again, I want you to know new faces around here, to help you stop thinking about Coach Leite. Be that in a friendly or romantic way.” Pearl flinched at the name. 

“I would’ve thought you’d have learned from that incident Rose that relationships between two teachers at the same school are a terrible idea. I certainly did.” Pearl’s tone was cold, even if she was trying to sound calm, Rose backed off a little as she sensed the anger underneath.

“I’m not trying to decide anything for you, I’ll stop interfering if you want me to Pearl. But at least help Miss Adeniyi settle in, it would be nice for you to have a friend, all the staff are worried about you, they say you’re distant. We’re all here for you Pearl.” Rose said as she left. 

The sad thing was that Rose probably believed that, but then she was in charge. She was probably shielded from the petty sniping and undermining that went on nowadays. The truth was that in both schools Pearl had taught in, she’d learned only that teaching was a constant competition, bordering on a war. Teachers were willing to do whatever it took to get higher up on the career ladder or work their way into the senior staff’s favour, even if it meant stabbing a colleague in the back. Achieving a meteoric rise to assistant head within seven years of qualifying hadn’t exactly endeared her to her workmates at her previous school, and when Rose left to help fix the fortunes of a struggling school (which was receiving new staff and funds) it had been unbearable without her. She’d joined this school at Rose’s invitation three months later, filling the vacant deputy head role. 

Since then the school’s successful change in fortunes had been the subject of many news articles, but Pearl was constantly waiting and worrying about the day a scandal would leak and overshadow all the progress they had made. It was one of the reasons that she hadn’t gone to the police immediately, despite Rose’s urging, when her ex had started to beat her. 

Pearl shivered, got up and left, her work half done and her preparation for tomorrow incomplete. She’d have to come in earlier tomorrow but right now she didn’t care. She just wanted to go home. 

_____________

Much to her annoyance, despite her plan to avoid the new teacher she couldn’t bring herself to enact it. Miss Adeniyi turned out to be a pleasure to work and associate with, and the next six months flew by as the two built up a rapport. Some of the other teachers complained that they found Garnet sullen and intimidating, but Pearl liked that she was quiet. They marked work together in a comfortable silence most evenings in Pearl’s office, stopping to drink coffee together and talk about the students they both taught. Garnet rarely mentioned anything outside of school, and Pearl eventually learned not to dig into the physics teacher’s social life, or she would immediately retreat into vague one word answers. 

The last day of term arrived, and the school was filled with screeching and babbling as the children left the school as violently and rapidly as a cork from a bottle. She could hear the burly PE teacher, Jasper, yelling futilely at the heaving mass of children to stop pushing each other. Pearl smirked. 

“Pearl,” the maths teacher looked up to see Garnet in the doorway. 

“Hey!” As always the sight of the physics teacher flustered Pearl slightly, and she fumbled to catch her coffee mug as she knocked it off the desk. 

“Do you think you could help me take some of my displays down?” 

“Sure,” Pearl leapt to her feet, “I wasn’t doing anything important anyway” she waved her hand airily and followed Garnet back to the physics classroom. 

“It’s this display I need to take down.” Garnet pointed to some model atoms hanging from the ceiling, then gestured to a rickety looking stepladder “can you hold this steady for me?”

“Of course,” Pearl hurried to the ladder, flushing when Garnet grasped one of her shoulders for support to climb up. The ladder was extremely wobbly, but unfortunately with it being the end of year it wasn’t a priority. New equipment would probably be ordered during an inventory check in August, to be delivered in September. They’d successfully taken down a few of the cardboard models when the ladder lurched dangerously again. 

“Er Garnet, I think it’s probably better if you held the ladder and I climbed up?”

“I don’t know if that is a good idea Pearl,” Pearl wondered if there was an edge of protectiveness in Garnet’s voice or if she was imagining things. 

“I’ll be careful, and you’re stronger so you can probably hold the ladder steadier.” She reassured her friend. 

Garnet looked down at her, made a noise of agreement and climbed down off the ladder, Pearl nervously taking her place and trying to ignore the high pitched creaking noises.

Fifteen minutes later she’d forgotten her fears and was just leaning forward to untie the last model when there was a high pitched metal shearing noise, and then a crack, and Pearl and half of the ladder toppled forwards towards the hard floor. She saw Garnet move out of the corner of her eye, and felt the other woman try to catch her before being knocked over by the force of the fall herself. Pearl landed on her with an undignified shriek, and the two remained still in shock for a second.  
“Are you hurt?” Pearl squeaked, scrambling off the taller woman and helping her to her feet. 

“M’fine,” Garnet grunted, but her face said otherwise, and she quickly sat back down on a stool.

“You’re bleeding,” Pearl said, noticing the side of Garnet’s face. 

“I think my ankle might be sprained, or broken.” Garnet said, attempting to put some weight on her foot and immediately gasping in pain. 

“Does it hurt?” Pearl wrung her hands together and Garnet had to resist the urge to point out that _yes broken ankles hurt_ because she looked so distressed, simply grimacing and nodding instead. 

“Stay here, I’ll be right back,” Pearl dashed out of the room, returning five minutes later with a collapsible wheelchair and a first aid kit. Garnet raised her eyebrows. 

“Well you can’t walk! Of course I’m going to take you to the hospital because I don’t think you’re exactly going to be able to ride your motorcycle with a broken fibula, but I needed a way to get you into the car park.”

Garnet groaned and put her face in her hands. 

“I can’t believe I injured myself right on the last day of term.”

“I certainly hope you weren’t planning on any extreme sports during the vacation.” Pearl teased, as she helped Garnet into the wheelchair, “let’s clean that wound on your face first though.” She pushed her friend to the sink and grabbed some paper towels from the dispenser, dampening them and gently dabbing Garnet’s face, pausing as Garnet winced slightly.

“It’s ok,” Garnet reassured her, as the taller woman popped open the first aid kit and began looking through it, eventually finding a non-adhesive dressing and some surgical tape. One of Pearl’s fingers brushed the other woman’s cheek by accident and she felt her shiver slightly. 

“Sorry,” she said, taking the dressing from Garnet and revelling in the brief contact between their fingers, at the same time annoyed at herself for even thinking like that when Garnet was injured. She carefully taped the dressing to the side of Garnet’s face and took her out to the car, helping her into the passenger seat. 

When the car started her music also came on, embarrassingly loudly, and Pearl hurriedly dashed to turn the CD off, face bright red as Garnet started giggling. She’d never heard Garnet laugh before, and it was an attractive sound, which just made it all the more humiliating. Pearl determinedly ignored her passenger and manoeuvred the car out of the parking space, pulling out onto the road as Garnet gradually stopped snickering. 

“I didn't mean to upset you. Your expression was just so panicked,” Garnet said, still laughing slightly. “I’ve never seen someone’s eyes go so wide before, it was like something out of a cartoon.”

Pearl ignored her and kept her eyes forward, pretending to focus very hard on the road. She got enough of this criticism from Amethyst. 

“So you’re a Taylor Swift fan? I thought you’d be more of a classical person.” Garnet said, “but that’s cool, you don’t have to be ashamed of what you like.” 

Pearl looked over at her, surprised to see her expression was earnest and not mocking. 

“So what do you listen to Garnet?” 

“Anything,” Garnet shrugged. 

“Tell me.” Pearl half-pleaded, knowing that getting Garnet to reveal anything about herself was usually like pulling teeth. None of the staff had even known she had any family until her mothers had turned up at reception a couple of months ago asking for her. 

Surprisingly Garnet acquiesced. “I like a lot of different genres, it depends what mood I’m in. pop, classic rock, RnB, even some soul music. My favourite singer is probably Estelle though.”

“The American Boy singer?” Pearl said incredulously. 

“She has other songs!” Garnet protested uncharacteristically heatedly “Just cause they aren’t as well known doesn’t mean they’re not as good.” 

Pearl smiled at how passionately Garnet spoke, she could practically see the fire in the other woman’s eyes. 

“I’ll check her out sometime then,” she said, and Garnet’s face lit up. 

“Seriously, you should.”

They chatted about music until they reached the hospital, and as Pearl looked at her colleague from the corner of her eye she marvelled at how this was the happiest she’d ever seen her workmate. 

_____________

Pearl stayed in the waiting room with her the whole time, despite Garnet’s reminder that she was under no obligation to stay. 

“Honestly, I’m not going anywhere, unless you want me to leave?”

“I just feel terrible making you wait around like this. Even after I have the X-Ray done we’ll have to wait for the results.”

“You’re not making me do anything,” Pearl assured her. “Besides, you could probably do with a lift home.”

Garnet nodded, and opened her mouth to reply when her name was called, and Garnet pushed herself to the door, Pearl following behind, hovering at the edge of the room. 

_____________

“Well the good news is you won’t need surgery,” the doctor said, looking at the x-Ray “but it is a definite break, so you’re going to be out of action for at least the next six weeks.” Garnet’s face fell as the doctor continued. 

“You’re going to need crutches for the first couple of weeks, make sure you keep your weight off your ankle. The nurse will take you through to the clinic to get a cast put on, and you’ll need to choose a date for a follow up appointment in a month with the orthopaedics clinic.”

“Thanks,” Garnet said, obviously still crestfallen at the thought of spending the summer holidays on crutches. She resisted the nurses efforts to push her and instead wheeled herself through the doorway into the orthopaedic surgeon’s room. The doctor left to fetch crutches and Pearl sat awkwardly in the room, rubbing her hands together for comfort. The doctor returned fairly quickly, and the two made brief, stilted small talk. Eventually Garnet returned, with a cream coloured cast covering her foot, the nurse shortly behind her. 

“Well at least you have your girlfriend looking after you,” the nurse smiled and Pearl blushed. 

“No, no, we’re just friends,” she stammered loudly. 

“Oh sorry,” the nurse said glancing down, “you didn’t correct me so I just assumed.” 

The doctor handed Garnet a card with a follow up appointment and with great relief the pair finally left the hospital.

“I thought we were going to be there forever.” Garnet sighed as she awkwardly eased herself into the passenger seat, placing her crutches in front of her, as Pearl finished stuffing the wheelchair in the boot and slumped in the drivers seat next to her. “Hey, do you wanna go and get a meal somewhere? I’m starving.” 

“Well I need to return this wheelchair to the school since I didn’t sign it off the premises and we technically stole it, but yes, a meal sounds great.” Pearl said, grinning, then faltering “oh no wait I can’t – I don’t have my purse with me.”

“That’s ok. I’m buying. As a thank you.” Garnet said. 

Pearl turned to argue but Garnet placed a finger on the maths teacher’s lips, and Pearl turned away before the other woman could see that she was flustered, pretending to struggle to get her key into the ignition. 

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Garnet said. 

“If you’re sure…but I’ll have to repay you with another meal sometime.”

“Careful, I might take you up on that offer,” Garnet smiled slightly, if Pearl didn’t know any better she’d say the woman was flirting with her. But obviously not, that would be ridiculous, they weren’t flirting. Were they? Pearl shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts.

No, she was kidding herself, Garnet saw them as just friends, and even if there was a mutual attraction, she shouldn’t even be _thinking_ about going down that path with a colleague again. 

It was for the best.

**Author's Note:**

> At the minute this is just a one shot that I got a little carried away on, and was written in the early hours of the morning fuelled only by caffeine, but there's definitely scope for another one or two parts depending on feedback, so let me know if you want more!


End file.
